"in some countries to celebrate the diversity of vegetable shapes, with particularly unusual items being entered into competitions. Many of these are judged by the ugliness of the vegetable. Some organisations run contests in which gardeners enter the largest vegetables that they have grown, with pumpkins being particular favourites. The popular BBC television programme ""That's Life!"" mixed investigative journalism with more lighthearted sections, which included items on unusually shaped vegetables. The BBC comedy television programme ""Blackadder"" contains several jokes relating to the character Baldrick and his obsession with odd-shaped turnips. The most notable example occurs in the episode ""Beer"", in"
"produces more leaves, bigger leaves and a higher biomass under long day conditions than under short day conditions. Napa cabbage is a cool season annual vegetable which grows best when the days are short and mild. The plant grows to an oblong shaped head consisting of tightly arranged crinkly, thick, light-green leaves with white prominent veins. Innermost layer leaves feature light yellow color. Napa cabbage belongs to the family of Brassicaceae (Cruciferae, cabbage family), the Genus of Brassica and the subspecies pekinensis. As a cruciferous plant (Brassicaceae) it is closely related to species like broccoli, pak choi or cauliflower. Napa"
"""squarepantsii"" is a Latinisation of the well-known Nickelodeon cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, whose shape was purported to share a resemblance to the fungus. Additionally, the authors note that the spore-bearing surface (the hymenium), when viewed with scanning electron microscopy, somewhat resembles a ""seafloor covered with tube sponges, reminiscent of the fictitious home of SpongeBob"". Although the epithet was originally rejected by the editors of ""Mycologia"" as ""frivolous"", Desjardin and colleagues insisted that ""we could name it whatever we liked"". The fruit body of ""Spongiforma squarepantsii"" is bright orange coloured, roughly spherical to oval, and measures wide by tall. Although it"
"(table). Watercress Watercress or yellowcress is an aquatic plant species with the botanical name Nasturtium officinale. This should not be confused with the profoundly different and unrelated group of plants with the common name of nasturtium, within the genus ""Tropaeolum"". Watercress is a rapidly growing, aquatic or semi-aquatic, perennial plant native to Europe and Asia, and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by humans. It is a member of the family Brassicaceae, botanically related to garden cress, mustard, radish, and wasabi—all noteworthy for their piquant flavor. The hollow stems of watercress will float; the leaf structure is pinnately"
"Cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ""Brassica oleracea"" in the genus ""Brassica"", which is in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – the edible white flesh sometimes called ""curd"" (with a similar appearance to cheese curd). The cauliflower head is composed of a white inflorescence meristem. Cauliflower heads resemble those in broccoli, which differs in having flower buds as the edible portion. ""Brassica oleracea"" also includes broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, and kale, collectively called ""cole"" crops, though they are of different cultivar"
"Watercress Watercress or yellowcress is an aquatic plant species with the botanical name Nasturtium officinale. This should not be confused with the profoundly different and unrelated group of plants with the common name of nasturtium, within the genus ""Tropaeolum"". Watercress is a rapidly growing, aquatic or semi-aquatic, perennial plant native to Europe and Asia, and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by humans. It is a member of the family Brassicaceae, botanically related to garden cress, mustard, radish, and wasabi—all noteworthy for their piquant flavor. The hollow stems of watercress will float; the leaf structure is pinnately compound."
"such vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables of the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae) with many genera, species, and cultivars being raised for food production such as cauliflower, cabbage, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and similar green leaf vegetables. The family takes its alternative name (Cruciferae, New Latin for ""cross-bearing"") from the shape of their flowers, whose four petals resemble a cross. Ten of the most common cruciferous vegetables eaten by people, known colloquially in North America as cole crops and in Britain and Ireland as ""brassicas"", are in a single species (""Brassica oleracea""); they are not"
"Cabbage Cabbage or headed cabbage (comprising several cultivars of ""Brassica oleracea"") is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage, ""B. oleracea"" var. ""oleracea"", and belongs to the ""cole crops"", meaning it is closely related to broccoli and cauliflower (var. ""botrytis""); Brussels sprouts (var. ""gemmifera""); and savoy cabbage (var. ""sabauda""). ""Brassica rapa"" is commonly named Chinese, celery or napa cabbage and has many of the same uses. Cabbage is high in nutritional value. Cabbage heads generally range from , and"
"side of the fruit body. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) consist of a globular part (the hypobasidia) to which inflated or elongated epibasidia are attached. In ""Guepinia"", the hypobasidia are egg-shaped to ellipsoid, measuring 12–16 by 9–12 μm, and attached to fibril-like epibasidia that are 20–45 by 3–4 μm. The spore deposit is white, while the spores are 9–11 by 5–6 μm, hyaline (translucent), cylindrical to elongated ellipsoid in shape, and have a large oil drop. ""Guepinia helvelloides"" is an edible, but bland, fungus. Older specimens are usually tough and indigestible. It can be used raw in salads, for pickling in"
"when used as food. The Japanese name for this specific variety of cabbage is hakusai (), a Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese name ""báicài"" (), literally ""white vegetable"". The Korean name for napa cabbage, baechu (), is a nativized word from the Sino-Korean reading, ""baekchae"", of the same Chinese character sets. Today in Mandarin Chinese, napa cabbage is known as dàbáicài (), literally ""big white vegetable"", as opposed to the ""small white vegetable"" that is known in English as bok choy. Outside of Asia, this vegetable is also referred to as Chinese cabbage. Regionally, it is also known as sui"
"fruity or musky odour. These fruit bodies will—like a sponge—resume their original shape if water is squeezed out. The origin of the specific name derives from its perceived resemblance to the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. Apart from differences in distribution, ""S. squarepantsii"" differs from ""S. thailandica"" in its colour, odour, and spore structure. The fruit bodies of ""Spongiforma"" species have a brain-like to sponge-like form, and grow on the surface of the ground. They do not have a stalk, and lack a layer of outer skin. The small cavities (locules) of the fruit body are irregular in outline and measure"
"develops similar to other head-forming leaf vegetables, for example cabbage lettuce. The chronological stages on the BBCH-scale are germination, leaf formation, vegetative growth (head-forming), appearance of the sprout that bears the flowers, flowering, fruit development, seed ripening and senescence. Napa cabbage is an annual plant that reaches the generative period in the first year. It must be consumed in its vegetative period, so there is a challenge in cultivation not to reach the stadium of flowering. The stadium of flowering can be initiated by cold temperatures or the length of the day. Napa cabbage reproduces mainly by allogamy. Napa cabbage"
"are white in mass. Fruit bodies are composed of hyphae lacking clamp connections in a gelatinous matrix. In one species the hyphal system is dimitic. The spore-bearing surface is initially covered in a layer of weakly branched hyphidia below which the basidia are formed. The basidia are tremelloid (ellipsoid and vertically septate), giving rise to long, sinuous sterigmata or epibasidia on which the basidiospores are produced. These spores are typically ellipsoid to oblong, but allantoid (sausage-shaped) in one species and vermiform (worm-shaped) in another. ""Sebacina"" species were assumed to be saprotrophic until DNA analysis of mycorrhizal roots showed that they"
"Cruciferous vegetables Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables of the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae) with many genera, species, and cultivars being raised for food production such as cauliflower, cabbage, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and similar green leaf vegetables. The family takes its alternative name (Cruciferae, New Latin for ""cross-bearing"") from the shape of their flowers, whose four petals resemble a cross. Ten of the most common cruciferous vegetables eaten by people, known colloquially in North America as cole crops and in Britain and Ireland as ""brassicas"", are in a single species (""Brassica oleracea""); they are not distinguished from"
"spherical, almost round in shape, dark green to green when ripe. Mangifera odorata Mangifera odorata (commonly known as kwini, kweni, kuweni, kuwini, or Saipan mango) is a species of plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to Guam, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam and cultivated in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Kwini or ""Mangifera odorata"" is a mango species that is native to tropical Asia. The fruit is light orange in colour and juicy sweet when ripe. The tree emits a fragrant resinous smell. The tree flowers throughout the year and the flowers too are strongly scented with its fragrance."
"Other species have been transferred elsewhere. Even in its restricted sense, the genus is superfluous since there is no good reason why hyphal propagules should have a separate scientific name from the fungi of which they are part. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) arise singly or severally from a sclerotium or directly from the substrate. Fruit bodies are filiform (hair-like) to club-shaped, typically with a distinct sterile stalk and fertile head, normally white, in some species buff to pink, or with a dark reddish stem. The sclerotia (when present) are spherical to lentil-shaped, hard and horny, yellow-brown to blackish brown. Microscopically, the"
"appropriate type collection. The original published description is based on collections found growing on the fallen trunk of ""Acer macrophyllum"" in Olympic National Park, Washington, in October 1993. The specific epithet ""nabsnona"" is derived from an acronym of ""North American Biological Specimen"" and ""nona"" (ninth). The fruit bodies have caps that are initially convex before flattening in age, and reach diameters between . The cap has a smooth surface that becomes sticky when wet. Young specimens can have short, dark hairs on the center. The cap color is brownish, becoming paler towards the edge, and frequently has darker, irregularly shaped"
"Spaghetti squash Spaghetti squash or vegetable spaghetti, is a group of cultivars of ""Cucurbita pepo"" subsp. ""pepo"". They can come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, including ivory, yellow and orange, with orange having the highest amount of carotene. Its center contains many large seeds and when raw, the flesh is solid and similar to other raw squash. When cooked, the meat of the fruit falls away from the flesh in ribbons or strands that look like spaghetti. Spaghetti squash can be cooked in a variety of ways, including baking, boiling, steaming, or microwaving. Once cooked the meat"
"while they dried. Navy bean The navy bean, haricot, pearl haricot bean, boston bean, white pea bean, or pea bean, is a variety of the common bean (""Phaseolus vulgaris"") native to the Americas, where it was domesticated. It is a small, dry white bean which is smaller than many other types of white beans, and has an oval, slightly flattened shape. It features in such dishes as baked beans, and even pies, as well as in various soups such as Senate bean soup. The green bean plants that produce navy beans may be either of the bush type or vining"
"Fruit bodies either grow separately or in clusters, when they may coalesce. Fruit bodies are composed of hyphae with clamp connections in a gelatinous matrix. The spore-bearing surface is initially covered in a layer of branched hyphidia below which the basidia are formed. The basidia are tremelloid (ellipsoid and vertically septate), giving rise to long, sinuous sterigmata or epibasidia on which the basidiospores are produced. These spores are allantoid (sausage-shaped) or less commonly oblong to cylindrical. Exidia Exidia is a genus of fungi in the family Auriculariaceae. The species are saprotrophic, occurs in adhered or recently fallen dead wood and"
"to in size that are broadly obovate to circular in shape and cespitose or scattered. The irregularly shaped stipe grows up to with much aborted branching, giving an appearance like cauliflower. The flesh is white to yellow, does not bruise, but has a soapy texture without being gelatinous. The above-ground parts are weakly vinescent (turning to a red wine color) around particles of soil. The flesh is brittle whether dried or fresh. The odor of fresh specimens is fabaceous (bean-like), which becomes like fenugreek upon drying. The taste is describes as moderately fabaceous, but it is not known is the"
"in grocery stores or appears on restaurant menus, usually as <nowiki>'</nowiki>sea beans<nowiki>'</nowiki> or samphire greens or sea asparagus . The ""Salicornia"" species are small annual herbs. They grow prostrate to erect, their simple or branched stems are succulent, glabrous, and apparently jointed. Older stems may be somewhat woody basally. The opposite leaves are fleshy, glabrous, sessile, basally connate and decurrent and enclosing the stem (thus forming the joints). The leaf blades are reduced to small collar-like scales with narrow scarious margin. Many species are green, but their foliage turns red in autumn. All stems are terminating in spike-like apparently jointed"
"pickles. Fruit of the plant can also be made into a toffee or jam. Carpobrotus glaucescens Carpobrotus glaucescens, commonly known as angular sea-fig or pigface, is a species of flowering plant in the ice plant family. It is a succulent coastal groundcover native to temperate eastern Australia. The succulent leaves are 3.5–10 cm long and 9–15 mm wide, straight or slightly curved. The flowers are 3.2–6 cm wide, and light purple. The red to purple fruit is 2–3 cm long and 1.6–2.4 cm wide. The fruit pulp is edible, with a flavor like salty strawberry or kiwifruit. The skin is"
"Navy bean The navy bean, haricot, pearl haricot bean, boston bean, white pea bean, or pea bean, is a variety of the common bean (""Phaseolus vulgaris"") native to the Americas, where it was domesticated. It is a small, dry white bean which is smaller than many other types of white beans, and has an oval, slightly flattened shape. It features in such dishes as baked beans, and even pies, as well as in various soups such as Senate bean soup. The green bean plants that produce navy beans may be either of the bush type or vining type, depending on"
"fruiting bodies. One kind is known as a plasmodiocarp. These are immobile, tube-like veins of fruiting bodies that form a net. The best example of this is ""Hemitrichia serpula"", which forms distinctive gold-yellow networks of tubes that will burst to reveal spores when they are mature. The other kind is the sporangium, which is a round case that holds a mass of spores. An example of this is ""Hemitrichia clavata"", which forms small sporangia held on a stalk that open to reveal brightly red to yellow coloured mature spores. These spores will then disperse and change into the haploid ameoboflagellate"
"greens, Savoy, kohlrabi, and gai lan (""Brassica oleracea""), turnip, napa cabbage, bomdong, bok choy and rapini (""Brassica rapa""), rocket salad/arugula (""Eruca sativa""), garden cress (""Lepidium sativum""), watercress (""Nasturtium officinale"") and radish (""Raphanus"") and a few spices like horseradish (""Armoracia rusticana""), ""Brassica"", wasabi (""Eutrema japonicum""), white, Indian and black mustard (""Sinapis alba"", ""Brassica juncea"" and ""B. nigra"" respectively). Vegetable oil is produced from the seeds of several species such as ""Brassica napus"" (rapeseed oil), perhaps providing the largest volume of vegetable oils of any species. Woad (""Isatis tinctoria"") was used in the past to produce a blue textile dye (indigo), but"
"toward the ends. Stomata may be found on either both surfaces of the leaf or only the abaxial or underside. The leaf surface is coriaceous. ""Nageia"" are generally dioecious, with male pollen cones and female seed cones borne on separate individual plants but may sometimes be monoecious. The cones are pedunculate and develop from axillary buds. The pollen cones are long and ovoid-cylindric in shape. They may be solitary or grow in small spicate groups of two to six cones. Each pollen cone has numerous spirally inserted microsporophylls. The microsprophylls may be triangular or apiculate in shape. Each of them"
"is a globose or oval nut, long and diameter, enclosed in a four-valved husk, which splits open at maturity. The nut shell is thick and bony in most species, and thin in a few, notably the pecan (""C. illinoinensis""); it is divided into two halves, which split apart when the seed germinates. Beaked hickory (""Annamocarya sinensis"") is a species formerly classified as ""Carya sinensis"", but now adjudged in the monotypic genus ""Annamocarya"". In the APG system, genus ""Carya"" (and the whole family Juglandaceae) has been recently moved to the order Fagales. Hickory is used as a food plant by the"
"Rutabaga The rutabaga (from Swedish dialectal word ""rotabagge""), swede (from ""Swedish turnip"", the plant being introduced from Sweden), or neep (from the Old English ""næp"", Latin ""napus"", reflected in the name ""Brassica napobrassica"") is a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip. The roots are eaten in a variety of ways, and the leaves can be eaten as a leaf vegetable. The roots and tops are also used as winter feed for livestock, when they may be fed directly, or by allowing the animals to forage the plants in the field. Various European countries"
"long, thin stems that extend upwards from the vine. Female flowers are shorter, with a small round growth underneath the petals. This round growth turns into the squash if the flower is successfully pollinated. Spaghetti squash plants may cross-pollinate with zucchini plants. Spaghetti squash Spaghetti squash or vegetable spaghetti, is a group of cultivars of ""Cucurbita pepo"" subsp. ""pepo"". They can come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, including ivory, yellow and orange, with orange having the highest amount of carotene. Its center contains many large seeds and when raw, the flesh is solid and similar to other"
"dimension, calculated to be roughly 2.8. One of the fractal properties of cauliflower is that every branch, or ""module"", is similar to the entire cauliflower. Another quality, also present in other plant species, is that the angle between ""modules,"" as they become more distant from the center, is 360 degrees divided by the golden ratio. Cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ""Brassica oleracea"" in the genus ""Brassica"", which is in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – the edible white flesh sometimes called ""curd"""
"almost spherical tuber. The tuber often produces two tubers on the end of long, root-like stolons. There is a single, linear, cylindrical, onion-like leaf at the base of the plant. The leaf resembles that of the closely related genus ""Prasophyllum"" except that is entirely green (usually red at the base in ""Prasophyllum"") and exudes clear mucilage when damaged. The inflorescence is a raceme with a few to many resupinate green flowers spirally arranged on a flowering stem. Each flower has a short stalk with a small bract near its base. The broad dorsal sepal is sharp-pointed, dished on the lower"
"conical, measuring long by thick. The color of fresh fruit bodies ranges from light yellow to brownish pale orange (with white flesh), while dried specimens tend to be paler, from pale yellow to grayish orange (with pale yellow flesh). The branches are compact (giving the fruit body a cauliflower-like appearance), with about six branches from the base. The primary branches are thick, up to in diameter, while the secondary branches are usually in the range of in diameter. An edible species, its flesh has a weakly aromatic or fabaceous (bean-like) odor, and a weakly fabaceous or bitter taste. The dimensions"